Ministry: Reminder About Public Signage Rules
The Ministry of Public Works wishes to remind members of the public of some of the specifications of the Advertisements Regulation Act 1911 [PDF] which regulates the exhibition of outdoor signs and advertising in Bermuda.
A spokesperson said, “The Act controls the placement, content and certain design elements of signs. For example, it dictates that a “For Sale” sign can be erected on land that is for sale; a sign on a building can display the business name and indicate the general character of the business; and a sign can advertise a municipal election.
“However, the Act prohibits certain types of advertising, such as signs that protrude above the roofline of a building or which are ‘inner illuminated’. Additionally, it restricts advertising to the land or building to which the sale or meeting or entertainment relates.
“The Act defines “advertisement” as any sign, boarding, building, structure, bill, poster or notice used or intended to be used for advertising.The Act defines “land” as including houses, buildings, walls, rocks, trees, poles and structures on land and land covered by water.
“The public should be aware that any advertising signs erected on land owned by the Bermuda Government and controlled by either the Department of Parks or the Department of Works & Engineering is not permitted and will be removed.
“Advertising signs displayed on these strips of land will be removed by either a Parks or Works & Engineering crew, this includes East Broadway and Palmetto Road, whether advertising a charitable event or not.
“The control of advertising signs incorrectly erected on private land will be addressed by the Department of Planning. This applies to free-standing signs, flutter flags, neon signs and over-sized signs attached to buildings.
“We encourage any business or any private land owner who is considering putting up outdoor signage and advertising, or wishes to check compliance of their existing signs, to visit the Department of Planning’s website to view the guidelines and the Act in its entirety.
“Both the Corporation of Hamilton and the Corporation of St. George can license land for the exhibition of advertisements. Individuals are advised to approach those bodies directly should they wish to do so.
“To report a sign erected on park property, contact the Parks Department at 236-5902. On weekends, please call 599-5902.To retrieve a sign removed from park property, contact the Parks Department receptionist at 236-5902 to arrange collection from the Parks Department at the Botanical Gardens.
“To report a sign erected on government land, contact the Chief Engineer at 297-7863.To retrieve a sign removed from government land contact the Marsh Folly depot, Marsh Folly Road at 292-7454 to arrange a time when it would be convenient to collect the sign.
“To report a sign erected on private property, contact the Enforcement Officer at 297-7634.”
Presumably this would encompass the big ugly signs at Barnes’s Corner advertising concerts.
That depends on who is planning the concert. These rules don’t apply to everyone.
Promoters will get away with wharever they can get away with. They will ignore warnings. They will not ignore meaningful fines.
BPS, get your ticketbooks out & earn your keep. Think how many signage tickets could have been written yesterday instead of hanging around a house all afternoon waiting for some guy to come out.
‘Throw the law book’ at the offenders so we can Keep Bermuda Beautiful !
By the way, where is that organization (KBB) ? They used to be good ‘watchdogs’ but we don’t seem to hear much from them of late.
@ Barbara Cooper, Keep Bermuda Beautiful continues to be the watchdog, cleanup patrol and awareness raiser, and has done so for more than 50 years. KBB works closely with Government Departments regarding issues of illegal dumping, littering, and illegal banners. http://www.kbb.bm